Norm Trerise was appointed a member of the BC Human Rights Tribunal effective December 3, 2011. He was formerly a labour and employment lawyer with Fasken Martineau in Vancouver. His appointment funs for five years. The order-in-council information can be found here.

In the decision (WCAT-2008-03840), which was delivered on December 19, 2008, WCAT found that the Emergency and Health Services Commission (the "Employer") had engaged in discriminatory action under s. 151 of the BC Workers Compensation Act, against one of its employees, Michael Wheatley.

In Graham v. Galaxie Signs Ltd., 2010 BCSC 1655, the judge granted an application by the defendant employer to re-open a wrongful dismissal trial to adduce fresh evidence about the plaintiff former employees mitigation efforts 'following the termination of his employment.

Background

The trial was held in October 2009 and continued in February 2010. The judge issued reasons for judgment on April 30, 2010.

The employer filed its application to re-open the trial on September 28, 2010. The formal order flowing from the reasons had not get been entered in the court by the parties. read more »

The paper was prepared for 18th Annual Immigration Law Summitheld in Toronto on November 24, 2010.

The paper's Introduction states:

Transferring an employee to or from Canada, or hiring an employee from outside of Canada can be a complicated process. In addition to resolving any immigration issues, employers need to turn their minds to contractual employment issues.

The following paper is a checklist of "things to think about" when presenting an offer of transfer or an offer of employment to an individual located outside of Canada.

The paper deserves a fresh bookmark, however, because it appears to be one of the only resources available for lawyers as far as the to be alert to in relation to employees being posted to foreign countries.

The paper was written for the firm's 13th Annual Labour & Employment Group Symposium held on November 4, 2010.

The authors have attached to the paper an extremely useful, and comprehensive, chart that lists court decisions in Canada from 1984-2010 where "excess damages" (aggravated, bad faith, punitive, etc.) have been awarded.

Here's the content of what the BC Teachers' Federation posted on their website today concerning their Charter/legal challenge of Bills 27 and 28 which were enacted by the BC Liberal government in 2002.

The new legislation ended the BCTF's ability to collective bargain class size and composition; guarantees of service from teacher-librarians, counsellors, learning assistance and other specialist teachers;, the length of the school day, and hours of instruction in the school year:

Legal counsel for the BCTF began opening arguments before Madam Justice Griffin in BC Supreme Court on November 15, in what promises to be a significant case determining the rights of teachers and their unions. The BCTF is challenging Bills 27 and 28, imposed by the BC Liberal government in 2002, because teachers believe the legislation violated their right to freedom of association under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. read more »

The UFCW Canada Local 1518 has posted an article on its website announcing what it is calling the first collective agreement in Canada specifically for migrant agricultural workers. The website goes on to note:

the migrant workers work at Sidhu & Sons Nursery in Abbotsford BC;

the workers are primarily from Mexico and Jamaica;

they come to Canada each year under the federal government's Canadian Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (CSAWP);

a unique feature of the collective agreement is that it is specifically for the migrant workers at Sidhu & Sons, rather than the entire workforce; and

The British Columbia "Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services" is recommending that BC increase its minimum wage from the current $8/hour.

The recommendation was found in the "First Report on the Budget 2011 Consultations" which was made public on November 12, 2010. The committee is comprised of 10 MLAs and chaired by Liberal Party member John Les. The specific reccomendation is to "Increase the minimum wage in small increments with appropriate advance notice".

The BC Federation of Labour, among others, has been calling on the provincial government to increase the minimum wage for some time now. See this March 5, 2009 post and this January 5, 2010 post.